What is it about blue lights? In New York State a blue light can be used by a firefighter responding to an alarm, but it serves strictly as an indication for another driver’s courtesy. The public does not have to yield. It seems blue lights have this hypnotic, mezmorizing effect that causes most motorists to become totally oblivious to your attempt to get to the fire house as quickly as possible while staying within the speed limit and rules of the road. Many doesn’t know exactly what to do, a number of sadistic drivers intentionally slow down, while a few good citizens actually yield.
I posted a few day ago about a totally involved fire we had in town. The editor of one of our papers called me to find out about our response time. It seems a neighbor told one of his reporters that it took us 15 minutes to respond.
We are a transparent department and reviewed the records. We found out that the initial response for the first due engine was 8 minutes. No where near the 15 minutes claimed, but not as rapid as we respond under optimal conditions.
Before I called back the editor to make a statement on the response time, the Chief felt a closer analysis was warranted in the event the editor wanted to delve closer into the dynamics behind the response.
The alarm was a mid day call, on a work day. Main Street in our town is extremely congested during the week.
The analysis provided two clues to why the response time was 8 minutes. First, the heavy smoke from the fire that could be seen on Main Street had drivers slowing down to watch. The second, more telling fact was that many firefighters attempting to get to the firehouse, which is located just off Main Street, were not given what we considered to be the simple yield courtesy of many drivers on Main Street. Drivers could see the smoke, slowed down, but in a number of cases would not yield.
We felt though that the response time overall was within the acceptable range for a weekday fire when many members are out of town at work. Obviously for a volunteer firefighter to get to the station, they have to leave work or their home, get into their vehicle and make their way to the firehouse.
The incident opened the Chiefs eyes to formulating a public information campaign to let residents understand what a blue light is and why it is being used. I think this is a great idea.
Any of my fellow PIO’s ever create a blue light campaign? I’d like to know about it and if it achieved any tangible results.
Interesting take on the response time issue. That’s a great, but I would assume often overlooked way to turn negative PR into a positive community message. You show that you’re willing to look at not only what you can do better, but also what the community can do better to help you.
I really like the idea of “blue light awareness” it would be interesting to see that campaign handled, presented, and measured by a professional group. It’s an important message that will improve safety for all concerned and have reaches that will benefit your neighbors as well.